Media reported on the Moscow Arbitration Court's ban on Google from suing in California

The Moscow Arbitration Court has granted the petition of the bankruptcy trustee of Google LLC to prohibit Google Ireland Limited from continuing to conduct litigation to defend itself against a lawsuit in the Northern District Court of California in the U.S., responding to an unprecedented ban by the U.S. court. This was reported by the newspaper "Vedomosti" on January 31, citing sources.

According to them, on January 24, Google Ireland Limited asked the Northern District Court in the U.S. state to prohibit Google LLC and its representatives from participating in the bankruptcy case in the Moscow Arbitration Court. The U.S. court did not make a final decision, but set preliminary restrictions, prohibiting the capital court from considering cases within its competence.

In the motion of Google LLC, which is available to Vedomosti, it is stated that the measures taken by the foreign court are not subject to mandatory enforcement in the Russian Federation, according to Russian law. In addition, the injunction issued by the California court does not prevent the Moscow Arbitration Court from conducting the process.

Consequently, the temporary restrictions imposed by the U.S. court cannot force the Russian court to refuse either to consider separate cases to challenge transactions with Google Ireland Limited or to hold this company or anyone else liable for subsidiary liability. Google LLC takes the position that the California court has significantly crossed the threshold of its competence.

Art de Lex partner Artur Zurabyan noted in a conversation with the publication that the confirmation of the Moscow Arbitration Court's competence to deal with bankruptcy cases of Russian companies was expected.

Earlier, on January 29, it was reported that the amount of claims that 17 Russian TV channels made against Google reached 1.81 duodecillion rubles by mid-January. Duodecillion is a number representing a unit with 39 zeros. The debt accumulated due to the company's refusal to restore the accounts of Russian media on the video hosting YouTube.

On January 23, the High Court of England and Wales granted Google's motion for protection from lawsuits filed by Russian TV channels. The court ruling restricts the right of the defendants, which are RT, Tsargrad and Spas TV channels, to start new or continue existing proceedings against the American company for blocking YouTube channels. This can be done only in the jurisdictions of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Prior to that, on January 14, a court in Moscow fined Google 8 billion rubles for evasion from paying the fine. The company was found guilty under part 1 of article 20.25 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation ("Evasion of administrative punishment").

Google and its information resources have been repeatedly brought to administrative responsibility for violation of Russian legislation. Earlier, on November 18, 2024, a court in Moscow fined Google 3.8 million rubles for failure to remove prohibited information.